It is often desirable to label an item, such as for inventory, tracking, identification, or other applications. For example, the items that are stored in or move through a warehouse or a retail store may be tracked by their label's information for inventory control or supply chain management.
There are various types of labels, which may be employed. For example, a traditional nameplate may be affixed to an item, but the nameplate has certain drawbacks in that it is generally not readable by a machine, must be within a line-of-sight to be read, and consequently, may result in human data entry errors that significantly increase associated costs. As another example, a barcode label may be affixed to an item, but the barcode is limited in that it is a static device (e.g., once printed, its data cannot be changed without replacing the nameplate) and requires an optical line-of-sight to be read by a barcode reader.
As another example of a label, a radio frequency identification (RFID) device (e.g., an RFID tag, an RFID label, or an RFID smart label) may be affixed to an item. A typical RFID device includes a microchip and an antenna, with data transferred via radio frequency waves between the RFID device and an RFID reader. For example, a passive RFID device utilizes the radio frequency (RF) waves emitted by the RFID reader to energize the RFID device, which then modulates and scatters back the RF waves to provide its information to the RFID reader. The RFID device provides certain advantages over other types of labels, such as no line-of-sight requirement and read/write capability.
However, one drawback of the RFID device is that metal objects, including metal mesh or metalized plastics that are near or between the RFID device and the RFID reader, may interfere with the transfer of information via the radio frequency waves between the RFID device and the RFID reader. For example, the interference may result in a failed read or write attempt or possibly insufficient radio frequency power reaching the RFID device for activation. As a result, there is a need for improved RFID techniques.